Urban Dynamics
56-58 Rue Vieille-du-Temple is situated at the heart of the Marais. The neighborhood, a lively shopping district, allows employees to enjoy the museums, galleries, shops, and restaurants in the vicinity. This is where PCA-STREAM flourishes as a firm: the studio is at the very heart of a frenetic urban environment yet is secretly nested in a green courtyard.
From a Printing House to the Architectural Firm of the Future
The cluster occupies the site of a former printing house made of a courtyard pavilion and basement workshops. PCA-STREAM redeveloped the existing pavilion and demolished part of the workshops. The low-quality concrete sheds were removed in order to create a patio in the first basement. The main workspaces are organized around this empty space that acts as a skylight. The new L-shaped building is deployed above the patio. Its entrance presents a geometric glazed gable that evokes a stylized house. The pavilion hosts the research division over three floors.
A Workplace Manifesto
The design of the PCA-STREAM Cluster was strongly influenced by the research on the changes in the patterns of work and workspaces that were conducted for “After Office,” the second issue of the Stream book-magazine. Their findings were directly incubated in the organization of the cluster, including the idea that companies must provide a pleasant working environment that is also informal and inspiring in order to attract and to retain Generation Y talent; or that creativity feeds on exchange and collaboration that are fostered by the workspace.
A Catalyst for Creativity and Collaboration
This environment offers the best working conditions for both staff and visitors. The layout promotes collective emulation all the while providing differentiated places and atmospheres that can be optimally tapped into for individual work. Glazed partitions, a patio and open layout offices: the overall organization emphasizes transparency, communication, and fluidity to foster creativity and collective intelligence. Staff and visitors have access to a cafeteria, a kitchen, a patio that can be used for work or to have lunch, meeting rooms of various sizes, a project room for sessions of collaborative work, a model workshop, a materials library, a lounge for informal meetings, a screening room, and even a shooting and recording studio.
A Studio that is Open on Life and the City
The PCA-STREAM studio addresses new seamless lifestyles, which go hand in hand with a growing need for quality of life in the workplace. The relationship to nature and the outside is favored by the openings towards the patio and the green courtyard. On the upper story, a renovated apartment is directly connected to the cluster by means of a lift. The cluster also serves as an exhibition space for the firm’s contemporary art collection. The art works provide some relief in the day-to-day use of space, in the same way that artists bring a form of otherness in PCA-STREAM’s architectural developments. The PCA-STREAM studio is an inspiring workplace for teams, but also a reception place where clients and partners will enjoy coming together to work and share their views, and also for more informal settings and parties.
